Long Live the King
by sup3rl0z3r
Summary: While Zidane tries to find a way to defend dagger's heart durring her arranged marriage... how does Dagger hold on to her strength throught all the struggle. ABANDONED
1. Prolouge

**Long Live The King**

**Laura: **Alright Dags… are you ready, It's you turn to shine!

**Dags: **::raises fist to air:: YEAH!

**Ziddy: **What's this::picks up script::

**Dags::**pushes Ziddy:: Step aside, Ziddy-kins! It's my turn to have a chapter story in first person!

**Laura:** ::nods:: that's right this is Dags's side to Cheat The System::turns to reader:: don't worry though you won't have to read both, I promise…. But it might make me happy if you did, and plus, for all you CTS readers, this might be able to hold you over until I can finish chapter 6 of CTS.

**Ziddy:** but CTS is MY story you just can't give it to Dagger like that!!

**Dags: **::pummels Ziddy::

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**Prologue**

My feet picked up my pace from a run to a sprint in a matter of mere seconds. Tears ran hot against my cheeks, but a smile remained resting across my features. I longed to pick up my haste, but alas, I could not. "Zidane!" I called still keeping my pace.

He turned to me with nod, that smug grin across his face, taunting me with every new step I made. He opened his arms, mouthing the word 'dagger' but no sound escaped him. Still the same as I had ever seen him, still the Zidane that I had grown to love.

Wings… lustrous white feathers flowed out from his back glowing a divine hue of gold. I gasped stopping in my tacks… I lied, this was not my Zidane. He stared at me swallowing hard, his turquoise eyes begging me to come forth to him, to hold him, to comfort him. As bad as my heart wanted, I couldn't. My feet refused to move any longer I just continued to stare to him.

His eyes grew wide, staring off in fear to something behind me. I turned seeing great green roots zooming towards us, and passing straight through me. Unharming me… but penetrating Zidane. "Dagger!" he screamed in agony. "Dagger!" he screamed again this time gurgling blood with his voice as it flowed out of his mouth and down his neck. I tried to move but could only stare in horror as he continued to call out to me holding his arms out, his wings tattered…. feathers flying up and around him.

I gasped, jolting up from my bed, feeling my heart pound against my rib cage. I gripped to my chest, attempting to catch my breath as it staggered profusely. _It was only a dream Garnet…It was nothing but a dream. _I stepped down from my bed and strolled onward to my balcony, carefully stepping over the bodies of Steiner and Beatrix who had fallen asleep on my floor after a long night wrestling me to calm down and sleep. The day prior had been so long. We had defeated Kuja, and we lost Zidane. Today we would catch up on some long awaited work in the castle. Including, sitting down with various lawyers for my mother's will to be read. I was about to renter my stressful life, after being free for so long.

I sighed leaning against the railing of the balcony, "Please come home soon, Zidane."

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**Dags: **Review if you like, review if you don't like, either way, please review and me and Laura will brainstorm for the next chapter. Oh, and Laura apologizes for the short prologue… she promises to try and make longer chapters.


	2. How we come together

**Chapter one: How We Come Together**

**A/n: **Thanks to a certain reviewer… I realized maybe I should explain myself. My author's notes are weird and generally mean nothing. Feel free to skip them. I don't care if you like the a/n I care if you're interested in the story. I'm random and weird and I'm sorry for that. I hope its clearer now. But yeah, thanks for the reviews! Five already and I've only posted the prologue. That makes me happy. Thanks so much for the confidence boost. One last thing this chappie is a little slow, please bare with me, it will pick up soon, promise. I tried to add some humor and stuff but I may have failed horribly.

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_Welcome back to your old life, Garnet_.

The words of lawyers faded in and out of my mind as I focused on more interesting things. Such as, the light that bounced off of Steiner's armor as he impatiently rocked back in forth in the corner of the room…

"And to my darling daughter, Garnet, I leave all of my land…"

…or the way my chair squeaked with every slight movement…

"… I leave her my riches, all my valuables, everything…"

…the disgustingly big wart on the lawyer's index finger…

"… If I shall pass before my dear Garnet has turned the ripe age of eighteen…"

…the way I almost hoped Zidane was sitting next to me…

"… She shall be given access to all of the royal files, as a queen should…"

… so he could lean over to me whispering some crude joke…

"… but one in particular shall be read out immediately…"

…he would say how he wished to snip the wart off the old man…

"…the document can be found in file number four fifty-seven in the east Library…"

… He would continue to say how he'd like to punch the old man for being so smug towards me…

"I'm sure you don't mind Your Highness, I had some of your librarian's fetch the file for us to read over."

Fetch? Did he just use the word _fetch_ when talking about my librarians? My librarians that practically raised me in that library? The same ones that studied for years upon years to get the privilege to study in my library? I tilted my head to the lawyer, his smug look failed amuse me, "Sir, fetch is an action dogs do. I'll have you know, my librarians have intelligence far greater than that of dogs."

The lawyer paused for a second, then continued to pull out the file, "I see your highness, I apologize." His confident look now retreating, he opened the file pulling out numerous papers, "ah, here it is." He cleared his throat beginning to read off the document word for word, "'I, Richard Reade, along side my wife, Joanna Reade, hereby give the name of our son, Caleb Reade, to the heir of the Alexandiran Throne, Garnet Til Alexandros 17 in her eighteenth year for the price of fifteen million gil.'"

I raised my eyebrow, a cover up to my panicking heart, "That must be false, arranged marriage in Alexandria was banned."

"That is correct Your Highness, but it was banned in your infancy. This was dated before the ban; therefore, this document is legal." He cleared his throat as I struggled from sinking into my chair, "It is stamped as paid in full and signatures from all four parents are placed on it as well."

I rubbed my eyes and stood from my chair, in respects, he did as well. I strode to the window, a sad attempt to calm my frustration, "Who is this Caleb Reade?"

"I- I'm afraid I don't know, My Queen." He stammered as I clenched my fist atop the window seal.

I turned quickly on my heels, "Well then, why don't you **fetch** him for me?"

_Zidane would be proud._

The lawyer scurried out quickly, leaving me with Beatrix, Steiner, and my mother's will that was still on the table. I slowly made my way to the table, and sat in the lawyer's previous chair. A new view, I wanted to see life from the other end, to not be the queen, but the smug arrogant lawyer at the other end of the table. To be someone that didn't have to worry about the woes of royal life, but got the opportunity to sit back and watch the drama of this life unfold. I suddenly found myself in serious need of a new identity. 'Dagger' his voice rang in and out of my head.

I sighed and leaned back in the chair tilting my head up to the heavens, hoping Zidane had some way of hearing, "I'm sorry, Zidane. Dagger can't come out to play." A small giggle escaped me, "Garnet needs to borrow the confidence you installed into Dagger's brain so that she can have fun too." I'm sure Steiner and Beatrix gave me odd looks at this point, but I could have cared less, "besides," I rested my head atop my mother's will, I would curse myself later for slouching, "Dagger's still a little mad you left her. So, while you're on your epic adventure, I'm going to sit here and fix things. This way, when you get back, you can have that pretty throne." I suddenly started speaking with a very sleepy tone, "and if you are in heaven… If you are my angel, like in my dreams," I suddenly stood from my ramblings and made my way to the doors, pushing the fine carved oak, and making my way out, "Then, I swear I'll make you regret leaving me."

"Are you okay, Your Highness?" Steiner rang out over the sound of his clanking armor.

"I'll be okay," I walked into the library, "… I could really use Zidane right now though."

"What do you mean?" Beatrix asked, obviously intrigued as I began to pull books off the shelves, and scan through them.

"He would know a way to get around this." I placed a book in the crook of my arm.

"So, you think he would be able to find a loop hole?" Steiner took the initiative to start scanning through some books.

"I know he would... Maybe Tantalus could help. I can't have Zidane come home to me married to another man can I?" I paused realizing the amount of commitment to Zidane I had just shown.

Apparently Steiner caught on, "Are you not telling me something, My Queen?"

"Actually…" My mind scanned over the events of the past ten months of my life, "There was one thing between Zidane and Myself that I think I should have mentioned a long time ago…"

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"_I really don't think this is right, Zidane…" I gulped as he signed his name._

"_Hey, you're the one who suggested it. Besides, once we kick some Kuja ass, we'll get a divorce. That way you can still marry prince charming, kay, Princess?" He winked and handed me the quill, "Your turn. Just sign your name and they'll let us go on ahead to the sanctuary."_

"_Alright." I placed the quill to the paper._

I found my self buried in a closet full of supplies. "Your Highness, what exactly is it that we're looking for?" Steiner dodged a rod had thrown aside.

I pulled my retired duffel from the back of the closet, "You'll see." I dug threw small bottles of ether, various potions and remedies, my hand swam through bundles of clothing, and I finally came upon a small folded up piece of paper, that had been long since forgotten of by both Zidane and me. As I unfolded the paper, Steiner and Beatrix came and kneeled on next to me. I smiled, "You can't be married to two people at once, and I am married to Zidane." I observed the paper, my grin suddenly vanishing as I groaned, "no."

_I hesitated and looked up at Zidane, "What do I sign it as?I can't just write garnet on this."_

_Zidane rubbed his chin, "You're right. Just sign it as Dagger."_

_I scowled, "Dagger doesn't have a last name."_

_He gave me an incredibly annoying grin, and stuck his thumb to his chest, "You do know!"_

"_ZIDANE!" I tightened my fist in an attempt to keep from slaughtering him, "Just hurry up and give me a last name."_

"_Schnitsiheimer? Kaulengrear? Perioson?" He started to blurt out random words and I wondered if there was any seriousness left in him. Judging by the situation, I figured it all escaped in his excitement to have a new tool for hitting on me. _

"_kupopo!" I heard a moogle call from down the hall._

"_Mogmatt." I said and signed the name 'Dagger Mogmatt' on the line._

"_Mogmatt? Isn't that a moogle?" He said as I walked over to the priest, to get our blessings. _

"_I didn't hear you come up with anything good." I handed the certificate to the priest._

"_Oh come one, Wigamshnaper is a great last name!"_

I tilted back my head and let my back hit the wall, "So much for that plan."

"What's the matter?" Beatrix leaned in to get a better look at the certificate.

"I didn't sign this with my name." I sighed and tried to gain control of the millions of things running in and out of my head, "Beatrix, Steiner, I need rest. You two may go home for the night, if you please. Have a good evening, and be here at sunrise tomorrow, it will be a long day for us."

"Thank you, Your Highness, "Beatrix bowed and made her way out of the room.

I was left to stare at a vegitized Steiner. He sat on the floor next to me and stared off into space, until I interrupted his thoughts, "Steiner, you are dismissed."

"I know." He said, "But if I may, I wish to stay with you."

I stood and brushed out the ruffles in my skirts, "Why is that Steiner?"

"Because if I leave, you'll feel free to cry. You'll feel free from all of the people that look up to you, and with the freedom, you'll know that no one can judge you. They can't judge you , because they can't see you. Truthfully, Your Highness, if Zidane were here I know you'd be sobbing in his arms. Zidane told me to take care of you. So, I am taking care of you like I was asked to do. No one should cry alone, we should all have a shoulder ready for us." He relaxed his back against the wall, an extremely informal thing for Steiner to do.

I blinked and a tear fell.

"Crying makes no one week. Let it out now, think, and become stronger from the lessons you learn." He focused on a corner in the room, not looking to me at all.

"Steiner…" I clenched my fist as more tears fell and my body trembled impatiently.

"Garnet, you are more than just my queen, you are my friend. Friends take care of each other, friends love each other." He looked up at me and opened his arms, "I love you. Not as much as him, but nonetheless, I love you."

I fell to my knees and Steiner caught the rest of my body as it followed. He wrapped his arms tightly around me and I buried my face in his armor. He wasn't very comfortable and the situation felt odd, yet I felt safe. "I love you too, Steiner," I mumbled. He stroked my hair and whispered that everything was okay.

My father had died years ago. Many years, in fact, but somehow, here he was holding me safely, taking care of me with love that other men could not understand…

…the love of a father.

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A/n: Hope you liked it. Review, pretty please? One last thing, in case it's bugging anyone, the lawyer's name is Steve. Not that I think anyone cares, but it's true. His name is Steve… and you'll only see him one more time in this story. Tis all.


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